Epictetus

About the author

Born into slavery in Hierapolis, Phrygia, around 50 AD, Epictetus rose to become one of the most influential Stoic philosophers of antiquity. After studying under Musonius Rufus and gaining his freedom, he taught philosophy in Rome until Emperor Domitian banished philosophers from the city, whereupon he founded a school in Nicopolis. His core teaching — that external events lie beyond our control while our own actions and responses do not — shaped thinkers from Marcus Aurelius to Pascal and Diderot.

His ideas survive through his pupil Arrian's Discourses and Enchiridion.